The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

 Cora

I felt worried. I wasn't feeling close to Cora. Now, I have changed. She is a strong woman I would love to have met and known. She never forgot her mother. Before her escape to freedom with Caesar, she has a special way of saying goodbye to her friends at Hob. Not with words, but with objects: "a comb, a square of polished silver...the pile of blue stones that Nag called her "Indian rocks." Her farewell.

I do worry about that hatchet. When I think of a hatchet, I only think of agonizing cruelty done to oneself or to someone else. If this were a man carrying a hatchet would it seem less frightening? In other words, a woman may carry a basket and child but not a hammer, ax or hatchet. Why? Women are always thought of as emotional, hysterical, quick with their tongues and maybe with their hands too. Perhaps, these stereotypical thoughts make me feel afraid of Cora when she carries that hatchet. Just looked at hatchets. If a tree isn't near by to cut for wood, I would feel nervous whether man or woman carried one.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking about this Underground Railroad. I've read comments from a book group about myths, etc.  Will Harriet Tubman make an appearance in the novel? When I think of the Underground Railroad, I think of this heroic lady. She was the woman who went back and forth risking her life in order to save the lives of other people. Will Mr. Whitehead introduce new thoughts, theories about this passage way to the North?

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